


Give and Take

by ineptshieldmaid



Category: Arthurian Mythology, Chrétien de Troyes - Arthurian Romances, Le Chevalier au Lion - Chrétien de Troyes, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Genre: 12th Century, 14th Century, M/M, medieval literature, medieval romance, middle english literature, old french literature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-28
Updated: 2009-10-28
Packaged: 2017-10-10 17:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineptshieldmaid/pseuds/ineptshieldmaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gawain does not waste much time on the words of minstrels and poets. He understands well enough: men give, and women receive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give and Take

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by rymenhild, una_sola and anachronisma

Gawain does not waste much time on the words of minstrels and poets. He understands well enough: men give, and women receive. The Queen is another matter, but all she has to give is given elsewhere, and Gawain finds that he does not much care.

There is a green place in the heart of the forest where everything is different, where Gawain received a woman's kisses and a man took them back again. There is a green place in the heart of the forest where man orders woman to take from man, and where woman gives orders to man. In this place, there is a man from whom Gawain received the spoils of the hunt; there is a man to whom Gawain gave kisses hard and fierce, because it is better to give than to receive, and in the deep places the line between is hard to find.

In the end, Gawain receives more than he gives. He wears the green token as a reminder: it is better to give than to receive.

 

* * *

In another castle, in another forest, the woman Laudine gives Yvain her hand. Gawain gives the maid Lunette smiles, gives her kisses and kind words. She takes confidence from him, glows all the brighter. He gives her a ring, he gives her a promise, he gives her her desire.

Gawain dons his armour and leaves the way he came. Lunette watches and does not beg. It is easy to leave that which is given easily.

In castles in green forests, the lines which ought to be there are somehow taken away. Gawain begs: "_Yvain, come with us. Come with Arthur, come with me._" He is angry in a way he does not understand: Laudine has taken Yvain, claimed his heart and body and soul. Gawain taunts his cousin, calls him soft, calls him lovelorn, dares him to be his own man again. (Don't let her take you. Don't let her take you away from court. Don't let her take you away from me.)

Laudine gives them one year.

 

* * *

On the tournament field, men give and take. Gawain gives blows and takes winnings. Yvain takes falls and gives his horse up with good grace. Gawain takes Yvain in his arms, as brothers embrace. Yvain takes something more; Gawain gives more again. They give and take, out of sight of the court. Gawain gives with his hands and fingers that for which he has no words. Yvain gives back, gives back what Gawain cannot ask for.

Gawain can ask this: "_Please stay. Don't go to her. Not yet. Please stay._" He can ask, and he can coax (lips, hands) the answer he wants. The year passes, and he has Yvain with him still. It is better to take than to receive.

**Author's Note:**

> For your illumination, I provide links: [Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. Jessie Weston](http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/sggk_weston.pdf), and [Chretien's Yvain, trans. W.W. Comfort](http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/yvain_comfort.pdf), both provided by York University, Canada, on their website [In Parentheses](http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/), where you will find many further translations of medieval works.


End file.
